


Whipped cream

by maizonos



Category: Monsta X (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - College/University, Confessions, Crushes, Eating, Fluff, Insecurity, Love Confessions, M/M, Mentioned Yoo Kihyun, Mentions of working out, No eating disorders but there is panic that there is for a bit, No suicidal thoughts but there is implied panic that there is for a bit, Secret Crush, Sweet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-15
Updated: 2019-06-15
Packaged: 2020-05-12 05:42:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,430
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19222792
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/maizonos/pseuds/maizonos
Summary: What's more whipped, whipped cream or Im Changkyun?





	Whipped cream

Ignoring the creepy stares coming from the girl sitting at the other table was proving difficult. Even more so because Minhyuk just had to point it out.

“Hey, isn’t that girl looking at you, Changkyun?” Minhyuk nudged Changkyun teasingly. “Think she might be interested in you?”

Changkyun sighed and gave in. “Maybe, yeah. She’s been turning to look at us every now and then ever since we sat down here.”

“You should go get her number! She’s kinda good-looking, don’t you think?” Minhyuk wiggled his eyebrows, much to Changkyun’s disgust.

Changkyun waved his hand dismissively. “No thank you, she’s uhh, not my type.”

“Oh?” Minhyuk leaned forward, interested. “Then what’s your type?”

The question grabbed the attention of the others too. Jooheon, who had previously been focused on eating, was now looking at him intensely, pretty eyes shining brightly. If it weren’t for the situation he was in, Changkyun would be trying not to swoon at the sight. Hyungwon wore a smirk as he earnestly waited for Changkyun to respond. This was no surprise since Hyungwon was the only person who Changkyun trusted enough to tell him who his crush was. Minhyuk would definitely spill the beans to someone if he knew. And Jooheon...telling Jooheon he liked him was basically the same as confessing, wasn’t it?

The most pressing thing on his mind at the moment was making sure that no one found out who his crush was. And so that meant lying right now. He gulped, knowing time was passing and the others were all waiting, which made it worse. He wouldn’t be able to get out of this easily.

“Someone that’s tall and thin and doesn’t eat a lot?” That was nothing like Jooheon, right? Changkyun prayed that this response would work and the others would be satisfied with it.

“Oh! Someone like Hyungwon?” Minhyuk leaned in closer and Changkyun found himself backing away.

Changkyun made a face. “Eww, no, why would I have feelings for such an ugly dude like him? And besides, he already has someone he likes.” He could feel Hyungwon glaring at him for exposing him, but Changkyun was having too much fun and was glad that he’d managed to pry the attention of the group off himself.

“Really?!” Minhyuk was almost jumping with joy upon hearing the new information. “Who is it, Hyungwon, who is it? How come you never told us you liked someone before? Why does Changkyun know about this? What about meee?”

“Im Changkyun...you’re going to pay for this...” Hyungwon hissed as he too backed away from Minhyuk. “I’m not telling you who it is, Minhyuk, go away.”

“Please...pretty please...why does everyone keep me out of the loop?” Minhyuk wouldn’t let go of Hyungwon’s hand as he begged. “What did I do to deserve this?” he cried.

“A lot.” Hyungwon and Changkyun said at the same time, both thinking about all the instances of Minhyuk failing to keep their secrets. Meanwhile, Jooheon had gone back to his food, appearing to be uninterested.

“Awww…” Minhyuk finally sat back down, releasing the flustered Hyungwon’s hand, dejected.

“I’m going to go get some whipped cream for my pudding,” Jooheon announced in his sugary sweet voice, standing up from his seat and walking away. Changkyun couldn’t help but joke to himself that Jooheon didn’t need whipped cream when there was Changkyun right in front of him, so extremely whipped for him.

“I’ll go with you, I wanna get seconds.” Hyungwon picked up his tray and followed Jooheon.

“It’s just the two of us now, Kyun, so can you please tell me now?” Minhyuk pleaded. “I’m leaving for the weekend, remember? So if you would just tell me...”

“Not now, hyung,” Changkyun moved away from Minhyuk. “In fact, I’ll be so relieved when you’re gone, I can finally catch a break from you and your nonsense.”

  


* * *

  


“Hyung, did you see Jooheon hyung on your way here?” It wasn’t uncommon for Jooheon to oversleep, but they met up for breakfast every Saturday, and Jooheon hadn’t sent the group chat a single message about how he was going to be late. And even Hyungwon, resident sleepyhead, was here (albeit ten minutes late, but Changkyun was used to Hyungwon being late).

“Kihyun told me he saw him this morning.” Hyungwon shrugged, tucking his hands in his pockets.

“He didn’t...forget, did he?” Hyungwon could only offer another shrug and a slight frown. “But...how could he? This is like a tradition for us.” Changkyun pouted, disappointed.

“Maybe we should just go first and send him a text when we get there. He can join us later.” With slight difficulty, Hyungwon dragged Changkyun away from their regular meeting spot.

“This doesn’t have anything to do with what I said the day before, does it?” Changkyun sat down at their usual table, very much aware of how the seat directly opposite him was not occupied by the cutest person on the planet. “I know he didn’t join us for lunch yesterday, but I dismissed it as him being busy with coursework. And normally when he knows he can’t join us, he tells us beforehand...”

“What you said the day before? You mean the type thing?” Changkyun nodded. “I can’t really tell… He’s not the kind to be offended so easily and hold grudges or whatever. And we’ve been friends for so long, so I can’t really see him taking it to heart and thinking you were targeting him for not being thin.”

“What if I did hurt his feelings? I don’t want him to stop being my friend, that would be terrible… And what if he starves himself or something? Hyung, we’ve got to do something about this. Should we look for him?” Changkyun, unable to sit still, began tapping his foot on the floor. “Oh god...what if he starts having really bad thoughts? This is all my fault...” He put his face in his hands.

Hyungwon put a hand on his shoulder. “Dude, I don’t think it’s that bad, but yeah, we should try to check on him. I’ll call him, okay? It’ll be alright, calm down, order some food for us, will you? Man, you’re making me worry more too.”

While Changkyun ordered, Hyungwon punched in Jooheon’s number and waited for Jooheon to pick up. But he didn’t, even after several rings. “Maybe he’s doing something right now? I’ll call again later, I guess a text will suffice for now.”

“I hope he really is alright and I’m just overreacting…”

“Me too...”

The welcome distraction of breakfast arrived, and the two tucked in gratefully. Changkyun stared at his milkshake, which was topped with a lot more whipped cream than usual. If only Jooheon were here to see it.

There was still no response from Jooheon by the time the two had finished eating. “Hyung, let’s go bust his door down and find some clues if he’s not in there.”

“Are you su-” Hyungwon was cut off by his phone ringing. He quickly pulled it out, and Changkyun prayed that it was Jooheon just apologising about forgetting or something, but it turned out to be Hoseok who was calling.

“Hello, Hoseok hyung?” Hyungwon answered the call. His brow furrowed as he listened to whatever Hoseok was saying.

“What do you mean, come and fetch Jooheon?” Upon hearing Jooheon’s name, Changkyun’s head jerked up immediately. “He’s over at your place right now? What’s he doing there?”

“Uh-huh, okay, we’ll be there soon. Thanks for letting us know. Yeah, see you.” Hyungwon hung up and quickly stood up. “Changkyun, we gotta go.” He fished out his wallet and paid the waiter, then dashed out the door.

“Is Jooheon hyung in danger?” Changkyun asked as he struggled to match Hyungwon’s pace.

“No, but we need to try and get him off the treadmill. Hoseok hyung says he’s pushing himself too much and is at risk of collapsing and hurting himself any time soon, but Jooheon won’t listen to him.”

“Why’s he on the treadmill?” They quickly crossed the road, Changkyun already panting a little.

“I don’t really know, he’s probably trying to lose weight or get fit, I’m guessing.”

“What, why?!” The two entered the building where Hoseok’s gym was. Changkyun thought about Jooheon being more muscular and frowned. He didn’t want that part of Jooheon to change, admittedly.

Hyungwon frowned at the long line in front of the lift and darted up the stairs, Changkyun right behind him. “Maybe because of what you said the other day?”

Changkyun was such an idiot for lying about his type and hurting Jooheon like this. “Really?! But I didn’t mean any of it… I love his squishy and soft cheeks and how he’s not as pin-stick thin as you and, and-”

“Okay, that’s enough, I don’t want to hear any more of that gross stuff, you can tell him all that when we get up there.”

“D-does that mean he wants me to like him then? If he’s doing all that?” Changkyun felt his heart stop as he considered that possibility.

Hyungwon paused mid-step. He shot Changkyun a look. “Changkyun. Get a clue.” He turned back and continued running up.

Eventually, Hyungwon had to stop so he could catch his breath, having run up so many flights already. Although Changkyun was already getting exhausted too, there was no time to waste and he was feeling more and more anxious as the seconds passed by. “Hyung, I’ll go first, okay? You take your time. If he didn’t listen to Hoseok hyung, I’m guessing he might not listen to you either.”

“Yeah, go.” Hyungwon used the back of his hand to wipe the sweat off his forehead. “Good luck.”

“Thanks.” Taking a deep breath, Changkyun quickly went back to dashing up the stairs. Curse Hoseok for choosing a gym that was on the 14th floor of the building.

With buckets of sweat pouring off him, Changkyun pushed open the doors of the gym and used the last of his energy to rush over to the area full of treadmills. This was the one time he was relieved he’d come here before with Hoseok.

“Changkyun! You’re finally here! Look, Jooheon’s still running, and he hasn’t taken a break in maybe two hours, and since he’s so inexperienced, I don’t think it’s good for him to keep going. Please get him to stop, I don’t want to have to haul him off only to watch him go back to exercising immediately after.” Hoseok ushered him over to where Jooheon was.

Jooheon was running, yes, but it was clear to see that he was struggling. He was shaking and he was visibly gasping for breath. He had earphones plugged in, so maybe he didn’t know Changkyun was standing behind him.

Taking another deep breath, this time more for courage rather than energy, Changkyun approached Jooheon. “Hyung!” He stepped next to him, making sure Jooheon would be able to see him, and waved his hand in front of his face to get his attention.

Jooheon almost jumped. “W-what are you doing here?” He immediately stopped the treadmill and whirled around to look at Hoseok, who was behind Changkyun. “Hyung! I told you not to tell anyone! And especially not Changkyun...” he groaned.

“You weren’t listening to me, so I had to call them over. This isn’t good for you at all, if you want to lose weight without harming yourself, you have to do it right.” Hoseok put his hands on his hips. “If I hadn’t called Changkyun here, would you have stopped?”

Jooheon scratched his head sheepishly. “I guess not...but why did you make him rush over? He looks like he’s about to throw up, isn’t that worse?” Jooheon stepped off the treadmill, taking a big gulp from the water bottle next to it before handing it to Changkyun, who was sitting on the edge of the treadmill next to the one Jooheon was using, staring at the floor. “Kyun-ah, please drink some, you don’t look so good right now… Gosh, you’re shaking! Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m okay, I’m okay…” Changkyun took small sips from the bottle, his eyes still focused on the floor.

Jooheon flashed Changkyun a concerned look but stood back up. “I’m gonna go take a shower, please take care of him, hyung.”

A second after Jooheon had left to the changing rooms, Hyungwon suddenly appeared, panting. “Hey guys, that was quite a run, what did I miss? Did Changkyun confess ye-” Changkyun quickly slapped his hand on Hyungwon’s mouth, stopping him before he could finish the sentence.

“Hyung!” Changkyun stared at Hyungwon with wide eyes. Judging by the look in Hyungwon’s eyes, he’d done this for revenge.

“What’d you say, Hyungwon?” Hoseok asked.

“Uhh, nothing!” Changkyun tried to wriggle away out of sight.

“You’re not going anywhere, Changkyun. Come on, just say it now. No one’s going to make fun of you unless you say something awfully sappy like what you said when we were on our way here.”

“Alright, alright, but can you just let me go talk to Jooheon hyung one on one?”

“Fine, but you better not chicken out, you coward.” Hyungwon pulled Changkyun to his feet and shoved him in the direction of the changing rooms. “I’ll explain everything to hyung in the meantime.”

Changkyun walked into the changing room, looking for Jooheon or his things. He soon found one of Jooheon’s backpacks on a bench in the far corner and decided to wait for Jooheon to finish taking his shower. He took this time to think about what exactly he could say to him.

It wasn’t long before Jooheon came out, only a towel around his waist. “Oh, Changkyun! Why are you here?”

“Hey, hyung. I’ve got something to ask you about.” Changkyun tried to keep his emotions from showing in his tone and reminded himself not to rush anything.

“What is it?” Jooheon nodded, indicating he was listening. He took the towel off and started wiping himself off. Changkyun did his best not to look.

“Why are you trying to exercise so much, all of a sudden?”

It was silent for a second. Was that the wrong thing to ask? Changkyun was about to tell Jooheon to forget he asked that when Jooheon finally opened his mouth. “The other day, you know when you said what your type was? It made me realise that no one is going to want someone like me if I’m so unfit and don’t try and lose these chubby cheeks and my big belly.”

“But...” Changkyun was about to protest when he realised that he had to tell the truth first, or else everything would come out all weird and embarrassing. “Hyung, can I tell you something?”

“What is it, Kyun? You can tell me anything.” Changkyun still wasn’t looking, but he could guess that Jooheon had already gotten a pair of pants on.

“That day, I lied to you all.”

“What do you mean you lied? What’d you lie about?” Jooheon didn’t sound angry, only slightly confused. He sat down next to Changkyun, giving him a concerned look.

“About my type. My type is nothing like what I described it to be. I actually have a thing for people who aren’t tall nor thin, and I think it’s cute when they eat a lot.” And now for the big reveal. He swallowed. “Jooheon hyung, I like you.”

“Hold up.” Jooheon was blinking furiously as if he was trying to process what Changkyun had just said. “You mean you like me _that_ way?”

“Yeah...I’ve liked you for a few years...and today I was led to believe that you liked me back, but I can’t tell now… Do you?” Changkyun let his already faint voice trail off.

Jooheon pondered over the question for a while, Changkyun waiting anxiously beside him.

“Is it...okay if I say I don’t know either?” Jooheon mumbled softly.

Changkyun glanced at him, alarmed. He didn’t know? That was surprising...

He swallowed again. “Yes, that’s okay. Thank you for telling me. We can figure it out later, yeah? It doesn’t have to be now, don’t rush it, some things take time,” Changkyun reassured him.

“Thanks, Kyun, you always say things that make me feel better.” Jooheon flashed him a small smile, his dimples popping out slightly. Thank goodness they were still around.

“Are you going to keep working out in the future, hyung?”

“I think so, but I definitely won’t push myself as hard. I guess only now have I realised how concerned all of you are about me, especially when I saw how you ran up so many floors to get here.”

“I was just worried you’d get hurt or something, that’s all. Please get some rest before you think about working out again.”

“I will, don’t worry. I’m going to get some good sleep now even though it’s not lunch time yet. My muscles are beginning to ache, I must say. I hope you guys’ll forgive me for skipping out on breakfast today.” Putting the last of his things in his bag, Jooheon stood up. “I’m all set to go now, I think.”

“Wait! Can I do something?”

Jooheon narrowed his eyes. “I’m not sure what you mean, what do you want to do?”

“Can I squish your cheeks? You see, I actually think they’re adorable. You’re adorable, all of you is, trust me, I would know.” Changkyun clamped a hand over his mouth before he could ramble further.

“Ohh, sure?” Jooheon plopped back down on the bench, one eyebrow raised in amusement.

Slowly, Changkyun raised his arms and pinched Jooheon’s cheeks a few times, feeling the soft skin in the process. “Ahh...your cheeks are so soft, hyung… I’m sorry, does this seem weird to you?”

“No, you know I like being complimented.” Jooheon smiled, his dimples resurfacing.

Changkyun pouted, ready to throw a fit and start writing an essay on how cute Lee Jooheon was. “Hyung…your dimples are so cute… That’s so unfair...”

Jooheon blushed. “Don’t be sad, Kyunnie, you’re cute too.”

“Really?” Changkyun looked up, a flicker of hope in his eyes.

“Really.” Jooheon nodded.

Feeling a gust of confidence, Changkyun instantly leaned forward and planted a gentle kiss on Jooheon’s cheek, and then quickly stood up, unable to stifle a little giggle. “Maybe you’ll know what you feel about me after this. I should go now, I’ve got a lot of coursework waiting for me, see you soon hyung!” And with that, Changkyun made his great escape from the changing room, leaving behind a shocked Jooheon.

  


* * *

  


“So you’re telling me that while I was gone, all this happened?!” Minhyuk shrieked. “I can’t believe none of you told me while I was away! For just three days! Can I even trust any of you to tell me anything?”

“At least now you know, right?” Changkyun shrugged. “Didn’t want you to freak out big time and run several kilometres here, we all know you would do it.”

Minhyuk continued to sulk while the rest of them laughed. “You could have at least told me Jooheon agreed to go out with you, right? I could have brought something back from my grandparents’ place so we could celebrate!”

“We don’t need any of that, hyung, seriously.” Jooheon patted Minhyuk’s shoulder apologetically, flashing him a small smile. “I don’t want the whole world to find out, and if we’re not careful when we tell you, then the whole world finds out.”

“Aww, alright. Moving on! Let me tell you all about what happened while I was over at my grandparents’ home! So much happened, you won’t even believe it! What chapter are we on of Minhyuk’s great, amazing travels? 93rd?” Back to his cheery self, Minhyuk began to tell them all about his adventures back in Gwangju, even though only Hyungwon was paying close attention.

“Kyun-ah, I’m gonna go grab some coffees for us all, do you want some whipped cream for yours?” Jooheon squeezed Changkyun’s hand gently before releasing it and standing up.

“Oh, no thank you, I think I’m whipped enough for you to not need any whipped cream.”

Jooheon laughed, totally radiating blinding rays of sunshine. “Changkyun, I’m glad,” he declared after he managed to stop laughing. “I’m glad that nothing really has changed or has to change even though we’re together now. Thank you.” He grinned widely, and Changkyun had to resist the urge to squeal at the sight of Jooheon’s dimples and kiss them right then and there.

“You’re more than welcome, hyung.”

“I know.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! The original title of this fic was 'Type check', partly because of stuff I learnt in IGCSE ICT, and because back then I hadn't thought of mentioning whipped cream. I wrote most of this yesterday, but I had started writing it towards the end of May. Any constructive criticism or general comments are welcome!
> 
> Twitter: [hchaes](https://twitter.com/hchaes)  
> Curious Cat: [hchaes](https://curiouscat.me/hchaes)


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